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Hermantown's boys basketball team is 7-17, and there is no hiding from that number. But inside the Hawks’ locker room, the conversation has shifted from record to playoff readiness.
With two regular-season games remaining, Hermantown is leaning into a late-season gauntlet designed less for optics and more for preparation.
“As we wind down the regular season, our schedule is continuing to ramp up to prep us for the playoffs,” Hawks coach Andy Fenske said. “We host North Branch on Thursday to wrap up our home schedule and while their record isn't great, they have strength and size that we will need to contend with. We'll finish with a road game at East on Friday, which is always a difficult match-up for us.
“After coming off a playoff-type environment in Rock Ridge (a 87-83 Hawks' victory), we're doing everything that we can to simulate what March can look like for us. We have some great things clicking at the moment, and while we may not be hosting a home playoff game, we're hoping that our regular season gauntlet of games prepared us for what lies ahead.”
The Hawks, who are led by thunder dunker Sawyer Senst, Noah Schulz and Ben Sundland, are averaging 66.2 points per game while pulling down 31 rebounds per contest.
They have shown an ability to score in bursts, topping 90 points three times this season, including a 94-50 rout of St. Paul Harding on Dec. 19 and a 94-56 victory at Cloquet on Jan. 30. Hermantown also put up 107 points in a Feb. 4 win over Rock Ridge, one of its most complete offensive performances of the season.
Consistency, however, has been elusive.
The Hawks opened the season with three straight losses — including a 78-97 setback at Princeton and a 63-90 defeat to Caledonia at the Minnehaha Academy showcase — before picking up a 76-69 win over Proctor on Dec. 9. From there, the schedule rarely softened.
Hermantown faced larger Class AAA and AAAA programs, tournament-style showcases and road environments that tested depth and composure. A narrow 79-84 loss to Cloquet on Jan. 8 hinted at progress. An 86-73 win over Duluth Marshall on Jan. 28 reinforced it. More recently, the Hawks edged Rock Ridge in what Fenske described as a playoff-type atmosphere.
For Hermantown in the playoffs, March will not be about hosting games. It will be about handling whatever environment awaits on the road — and proving that a demanding regular season was not a burden, but a blueprint.
